Pile driver



I April 25, 1933. w. KALTENBACH ET AL ,1,905,906

PILE DRIVER Filed Aug. 28, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 25, 1933- R. W. KALTENBACH ET AL 1,905,906

PILE DRIVER Filed Aug. 28, 1950 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 25, 1933 UNiTEo stares ATN Fries ROBERT W. KALTENBACH, `OF CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, AND ANTHONY FRONEK', OIEV CLEVELAND, OHIO; SAID FRONEK ASSIGNOR TO SAID KALTENBACI-I PILE DRIVER Application illedlAugust 28, 1930. `Seria1 No. 478,434.

This invention relates ,to improvements in pile drivers. with railroad pile drivers such as are mounted upon railroad cars and are'used prima- 5 rily in railroadconstruction work.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of means for tilting the lower end of the leads inwardly as well as outwardly;

Another object is the provision of a conlo nection for tilting the leads which shall be capable of taking compression as well as tension.

Still another object is the provision of operating mechanism with power conneci5 tions which are irreversible, that is connections in which the driven element is incapable of becoming` the driving element, so that when the leads are tilted to a given rrr,angle they will remain at that angle without being otherwise fastened.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as we proceed Vwith the description.

the forward end ofv a railroad `car mountedy upon the usual car wheels, one only of which appears at 11, the wheelsbeing adapted to run upon a railroad track, the upper surface of which is indicated at 12 in Fig. l. The

` 'car may be of special construction arranged to support upon a vertical axis `a truss 13 capable of swinging upon its axis to position the leads as desired.' The foregoing is all conventional construction.

In the customary ypractice heretofore the leads have been mounted upon a batter frame which was in turn mounted upon a transverse pivot and the batter frame could be tilted upon the latter pivot by means of flexible connections. These connections werel It has to do 'particularly' capable of transmitting tensiononly,v and hence it was necessary to employ them in pairs in order to provide for movementvin either direction, and in order to keep the connections on opposite sides of the truss taut it was necessary to employ a differential gear drive. Furthermore, these power connections were not irreversible, and hence locking or latching means werenecessary in order to hold the leads in a given tilted Y position. In addition, the maximum possible movement of the batter framewas 90, that is from a horizontal shipping position to a vertical position and reverse. Therefore any piles which were to be battered had l to be driven with their upper ends inclined toward the truss. A reverse batter could not be obtained. We have departed from these conventional features of construction,

Y substituting a rigid link for the flexible power connections, eliminating the differential gear drive, operating this link by a screw and nutV mechanism which is irreversible (that is to say the direction of thetransmission of energy cannot be reversed 'by the 7 5 load) and so constructing the truss thatthe batter frame may be tilted tov batter piles with their upper ends inclined outwardly from the truss.

According to' our invention side plates 14, 80 protruding from the forward ends of the upper side members 14 of the truss, are

` connected by a pivot shaft orbolt 15. The

lower side members 16 of the truss are Vshorter than the Vmembers 14. 'They are 85 connected together byfa tie member 9, and are attached to the upper members 14 and plates 14 by inclined struts 17. Upon the pivot bolt or shaft 15 we mount a batter frame 18. The major portion of this frame is rectangular, but that portion which eX- tends above the truss maybe tapered up- Y wardly as shown in Fig. '3. This frame en-V closes a large opening'lQ within which is positioned and mounted the mechanism for 95 winging the leads transversely, as .willA presently appear.

Attached to the frame 18 on either side thereof andy extending rearwardly is a pair of vbrackets 2O which carry pivots 21 for 100 the forward ends ot two links 22. These links are connected at their rear extremities, preferably by universal joints, with an equalizer beam 23, the outer ends ot which slidably engage tracks 24 supported by the transverse members 25 and 26 o't the truss. These members also carry rods 27 that are surrounded' between the members 25 and 26 from the pivot 15, this' mechanisminclud# ingl power connections which are irreversible, tliatis 'not subgect to'mov'ement in a l n a ,Y reverse direction under the ini'iuence of the n loadf- 'Thein'echanism itself may be operated to 'nio've the beam 23`vin 'either'direc-V 'tion however. The mechanism which we en'iploy for' this purpose consists of a screw 29,v 'rotatably mounted in 'bearings in 'the transverse 'truss' members 25 Land 2G. ,'llhreadably ino'unted upon' this screw is a nio'ns means 'of wliich'the nut is mounted inthe beam' 23. Rotation of'the screw 29 therefore produces travel o'ie the nut 30, andl with it'tlie beam 23 'and the links' 22.

lyond its rear bearing in the cross member 26' the screw 29'has 'secured vthereto a bevel l gear`31, with which meshes albevel gear-"32 oii 'the forward end of a power shatt .\..This shaftmay be driven by anyvsuitable 'means which "includes provision ior rotation in"eit her direction. At 34 and 35 we have indicated thrust bearings to taketh@ thrust transi'n'itt'ed 'by'tlie screw shaft when work- :.ing`in either direction.

`VLeadsfa'reshown at 36. They may be Vof any Aco'nver'i'tioii.al construction, and are .sup ported by 'a yoke 37 which is rotatably mounted upon a pivot bolt 38 carried by the upper end of theframe 18. ln order lto tilt- Vthe 'leads`transversely`, we mount upon them atthei'r lower end a rack 39 eur'vedrto con form with'a circle struck rom'the axis of` pivot 88." A pinion `40 meshes with this L,rack and is carried by a shaft'41 mounted in'bearings upon the batter frame 18. The

shaft 41 is adapted to be vturned in either direction by awoi'm wheel V42 fixed to the shaft, which worm wheelmeshes with the` worni' 43 fixed` to a` vertical shaft V44,

"this'ilatter sh'a'ftfcarrying also 'rlar'geV spur G'iilye'xert sufficientl power to move tliepinioii 45'which meshes with a pinion'46n on thel'ow'er endof a vertical shaft 47, the upper' end of the latter yshaft carrying a `large `gear 48 which meshes with a small gear 49,

'mouhted upon Aa vertical shaft .to which is attachedany operating hand-crank 50.

vided', whereby va 'singlewoikman may readvery considerable gear reduction is thus pi'o-v 40 and thereby transmit movement to the rack 39 to swing the leads in the desired direction. All of the above mechanism, with the exception of the rack 39, is mounted upon and carried by the batter frame 18.

The maximum swing of the battervframe 18 upon its pivot 15 to produce a reverse batter is indicated yby dotted lines in Fig. 1. The 'maximum movement of the :trame and leads in the'opp'osite directioiiis indicated 75 inv dotted lines in thesanie'tigure, this being the horizontal or shipping position of the leads.`

Althoughwe do not regard it as essential, we may provide nieans for bracing the bat- 80 ter frame .in certainofits most comrnqnly usedvop'erative positions. In thelpreisent ,inf stancefwe have shownvfoi thispurpose abanA 5 1 provided with eyes at its ends, to ',rec'eive,v transverse pins'or bolts 52 and Ifin.thetriiss ,85, and batter frame respectively, 'one or both of these pins being removable. This barfis of a length to brace'the batterframe when in vertical position, but obviously' bars of,` dif-L' ferent llengths maybe employed 'itdesfired 90 lVheii the frame 18 is tovbe, movedy tovs'oine other position, the pin 53 may be rernofved,v and thebar swung back uponuthe 52 as a pivot until it takes the dotted/lineposi` tion,"a`fter which a pin.54 may ,bel inserted; 95 to holdv it inthis inoperative position..`r

lVliile inthe foregoing description and in the accompanying'drawings weJ have closed morelorless in ydetail oney particulgir,- y embodiment of the invention, wevdesiie tri-,190 be understood that such. detailed disclosure has been resorted .to primarily lfor the'pur; pose of, fully illustrating the invention :in accordance witlifthe' requirements 'of they, statute,` and that itis not'to'be construedl 10F?. as laint'i'unting 'to any limitation. uponfthe scopeof the invention. Having thus described our inventionweA claimt' l' i i l. In a railroadpiledriver, a truss adapt- 119: ed: to overhang its mountinga horizontal pivot carriedby the tree' end of said itru'ss,r aI bat'terframe mounted'upoii saidwpivotat f a point intermediate the endsot'fthe frame,H and leads pivotally carried saidrame,` k; the outerend .of saidftrus'sbelow the levelv l of said Apivot heilig formed toprvidea H space into whichthel batter frame mayfbef tilted inwardly.

V2..'In la pile driver, aytruss, a .horizontalhlm Vpivoticarried thereby, a bat-ter'fframe mount-k ed upon sa'id'1 pivot,rlead s` cairied`by'-said frame, a' screw` rotatably mounted ,in said.) truss at right angles' to saidfpivota niitf..v threadably mounted upon said screw, ay rigid 12?,

link pivoted at onefendvto said frameand at.

the'other end to saidnutfandV means for roi tatiiig ,said screw in eitherI direction, said,` pivotabconnection between .the frame and.,

liek lying 'at the. ,sans eiserne;aannames:1 139.

ly from the vertical plane through said pivot when the frame is in horizontal or vertical position. Y

3. In a pile driver, a truss, a horizontal pivot carried thereby, a batter frame mounted upon said pivot, leads carried by said frame, a screw rotatably mounted in said truss at right angles to said pivot,

a nut threadably mounted upon said screw, a transversely arranged equalizer beam mounted to slide backwardly and Jforwardly upon said truss and operatively connected intermediate its ends with said nut, and a pair of rigid links connected at their rear ends with said beam upon opposite sides of said nut and at their forward ends with said frame at points remote from said pivot, and means for rotating said screw in either direction.

4. In a railroad pile driver, a truss, a horizontal pivot carried by the truss in a fixed position, a batter frame mounted upon said pivot extending downwardly therefrom in its operative position, leads carried by the frame, a bracket mounted upon the frame at a point spaced from the pivot and extending in a direction parallel to the length of the truss when the frame stands vertical, a rigid link pivotally connected at one end with said bracket at a point in a line extending from said pivot at an angle of approximately 45 to the frame, and means mounted upon said truss for moving the opposite end of the link to swing the frame to horizontal shipping position or to upstanding operative position.

5. In a railroad pile driver, a truss adapted to overhang its mounting, a horizontal pivot'carried by the free end of said truss, a batter frame mounted upon said pivot, leads carried by the frame, said truss being Iconstructed with the forward end inclined downwardly and rearwardly from said pivot, and means for swinging the batter frame to inclined position in either direction from the Vertical and in one direction down to horizontal shipping position. In testimony whereof, we hereunto aiiix our signatures. Y

ROBERT W. KALTENBACH. ANTHONY FRONEK. 

